via theguardian:
The recent leak of more than a hundred secret US defense documents could just be the “tip of the iceberg” of a trove of material that had started circulating long before it was widely noticed, according to a new report.
The disclosure of highly classified material already represents Washington’s worst national security breach in many years, including details about Ukraine’s lack of ammunition, US intelligence collection methods used against Russia, and embarrassing evidence pointing to US spying on close allies such as Ukraine, South Korea and Israel. Analysts suggest the damage to the US could still get much worse.
One of the documents, dated 23 February of this year and marked secret, outlines in detail how Ukraine’s Soviet-era S-300 air defense systems would be depleted by 2 May at the current usage rate. It is unclear whether Ukraine has since changed the rate it is using S-300 missiles, whether stocks have been replenished, or whether it is now relying more on other anti-aircraft systems.
The same document also refers to an intelligence source as “Lapis time-series video”, an apparent reference to a little-known and closely guarded satellite system for imaging objects on the ground.
On Monday, Ukraine denied a report that it had been forced to amend some military plans ahead of a long-anticipated counter-offensive because of the leak. Presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said Kyiv’s strategic plans remained unchanged but that specific tactics were always subject to change.
The authenticity of the documents has not been officially confirmed but the Pentagon issued a statement on Sunday saying it was reviewing the documents which “appear to contain sensitive and highly classified material”.
A UK defense source said on Monday that reports – citing the documents – claiming that a Russian fighter jet nearly shot down a British surveillance plane off the coast of Crimea in September “contain inaccuracies and do not reflect what happened in international air space over the Black Sea”.
h/t BoatSurfer600